Monday, November 28, 2005

My Thanksgiving holiday was spent mostly on the road. My parents and siblings live in Central Indiana, so I loaded up the family truckster and travelled 800 miles with my wife and daughters to go see them. It was a long trip, as I travelled 14 hours straight through the night on Wednesday. Did I say LONG? After recouperating and feasting on fried turkey, my wife and I travelled an additional 120 miles, roundtrip, to go pick up a car she wanted real badly. That meant we'd be putting 800 miles on two cars for the trip home Saturday. That trip was long, too, but we broke it up with well-timed stops and a switch of vehicles at the Alabama border. After 13 hours on congested interstates and highways, we made it home about 1:00 Sunday morning. As my head hit the pillow atop my very spacious, very comfortable, king-sized bed, I uttered three words and fell to sleep.

I've now had a few days to recouperate and gather my thoughts...and all said, it was a very nice Thanksgiving holiday. Besides spending some rare time with my parents, siblings, neices and nephews, we received two welcome additions to the family: my nephew Peyton (born 11/26 at 2:33 PM), and a 1999 Volvo C70. Now, I'm not comparing babies and automobiles, but both of them were huge blessings...the baby for obvious reasons...and the car because we've been down to one vehicle for months and it's been a major hassle.

As I look back on all the blessings--both new and old--this holiday season, I'm left with the same three words I uttered as I began that belated night of peaceful rest on Sunday....THANK YOU, LORD!

Honorable Mention: Monty Python's Holy Grail, Airplane, Revenge of The Pink Panther, Father Of The Bride, Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels, Meet the FockersThere are probably others that I've omitted, but this is my best recollection of favorite funny movies. Feel free to list some of yours by commenting below.

My wife and I were introduced to this movie earlier this year by some good friends. We hadn't laughed that hard in a long while. So there...I've done my best to lighten the mood of this blog...just in time for the weekend!

Friday, November 04, 2005

I saw an interesting bumper sticker yesterday on the way to work. It read, "I am for the separation of Church & Hate."

Now, I'm not much on bumper sticker theology, but that statement gripped me. I wrestled with it overnight and here's what I've come up with...

At first, I applauded internally. I thought, rather smugly, of how true that is. The church SHOULD be called on the carpet for tolerating hate. They hide behind phrases like, "Hate the sin, but love the sinner," all the while casting stones at just about everyone, from abortionists to drugatics to homosexuals. I thought to myself, "I'll write a good blog about this when I get to work."

Then, the truth hit me. I AM THE CHURCH!!!

So I chewed on it a little while longer.

Today, I've been thinking about the residue of hate in my own life and how it has produced prejudice, bitterness, jealousy and the like. Heck, just yesterday I called my own wife a "jackass." That's right. I said it. I've been letting petty things about her bug me so bad that not only have I not loved her much, I haven't liked her much either. This is my wife, for pete's sake!

I've carried a piss-poor attitude around for more than a week. I've thought to myself things like, "He's such an idiot. I wish he'd just shut up!" or "She is so stupid. Why can't she listen?" These are things I've thought about other human beings, created in the image of God. Is that not sickening?

So when I think that the Church ought to divorce itself from hate, I'm left with a strong sense of guilt about my own thoughts and actions. Gee, thanks bumper sticker writer! Idiot...just kidding.